Last month I discussed some noteworthy etymological connections relating to encounters between the Earth and cosmic material, as well as some of the effects of such an encounter. I mentioned that an important constituent of this material delivered to Earth by way of comets and asteroids was the platinum group metals, or PGM’s and I quoted Soviet biologist Dr. Vasilieyev of Tomsk University regarding the remarkable genetic effects observed in the post 1908 impact environment at Tunguska, Siberia, where and I concluded with this statement:
“. . . incursion of cosmic material into the biosphere can indeed catalyze extraordinary evolutionary changes, which brings us to the threshold of the forgotten knowledge of cosmic alchemy. . .”
The key word here is catalyze, which means to be acted upon by a catalyst, a substance which either causes or accelerates a chemical change without, however, being permanently affected by the reaction. The platinum group metals are possessed of unique chemical and physical properties, among which are their effectiveness as catalysts for a variety of processes. The catalytic converter which transforms noxious automobile exhaust into harmless byproducts utilizes the PGMs to catalyze the conversion of toxic nitrogen dioxide into benign oxygen and nitrogen gas. Both the pre-Incans and the Egyptians held platinum in high esteem, incorporating it into beautiful jewelry.
The first of the PGM’s to be discovered in modern times was palladium, by chemist William Hyde Wollaston in 1803, who named it after the asteroid Pallas, discovered only two months earlier by astronomer Wilhelm Olbers. In choosing to name his newly discovered substance after an asteroid, could Wollaston have intuited that the source of palladium on Earth was through delivery by asteroids? And could Olbers, in naming his asteroid after Pallas Athene from Greek Mythology, who, it is said, sprang as a full-grown warrior queen from the forehead of her father, Zeus, have sensed that the myth of Pallas Athene concealed an allegory for the role of the giant planet Jupiter in launching comets and asteroids into the inner solar system, where their cargo of exotic metals could be delivered to Earth?
Whatever the case may be, discovery of the other five PGM’s followed in short order. However, according to the research of the late Laurence Gardner, genealogist, author, Prior of the Celtic Church and holder of other notable affiliations, the properties of these metals were understood by ancient peoples, more particularly the Egyptians and Sumerians. In his 2003 book Lost Secrets of the Sacred Ark, Gardner states that “It is generally cited in encyclopedias and reference books that PGMs came to our attention as late as the 19th century, and perhaps the best known is palladium. . . However, it is now plain from discoveries relating to the distant BC years that the ancients were fully aware of the individual properties of these platinum group metals.” Gardner explores the traditions surrounding several of the ‘sacred stones’ of antiquity and comments specifically with regards to iridium crystal that it “glows with transparent color like any precious gemstone. The name “iridium” was applied in 1803 by virtue of this very iridescence (from the Latin iris: rainbow). Brought to earth by meteorites, iridium is an extraterrestrial metal, which can form its own rare glass-like rock, which the ancients called sappir. This was the Schethiyâ, “stone of heaven,” said to have been present beneath the Jerusalem Temple, as identified in the old tenets of Royal Arch Freemasonry…”
In Qabalistic tradition the Schethiya was a stone employed in the sacred ceremonies practiced in King Solomon’s Temple. In the Talmud it is called the ‘stone of foundation’ and the ‘stone of perfection.’ Gardner contends that the Schethiya was an instrument made of iridium crystal that could act directly on the pituitary gland and the production of serotonin.
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